Corrections_Today_July_August_2021_Vol.83_No.4

From Jim’s Desk nEWS&vIEWS

No Compromise?

T hese days it seems as if any- thing and everything we do results in division. Vote for rump/Vote for Biden. Wear a mask/ Do not wear a mask. Get the shot(s)/ Do not get the shot(s). And on and on the divisions go. So let’s examine our history. Dur- ing the American Revolution many “Americans” wanted to remain “Brit- ish”, a sizable number of Americans simply did not want a revolution. The question of slavery divided Americans up to and during the Civil War. The Adams family, a family who produced two American Presi- dents, condemned the practice of slavery before the U.S. Constitution was even written. And many southern citizens opposed that practice too. President Woodrow Wilson tried in vain to stay out of World War I. Many Americans considered that war to be “Europe’s war” and wanted no part of American dough boys “over there”. The same thing was true with World War II. In fact, many people still living fromWorld War I opposed

us going into that war. My grand- mother despised Franklin Roosevelt as she blamed him for two of her sons (my uncles) deaths during that war. Vietnam ripped the nation apart again and young people protested against “Tricky Dick” Nixon and before him, LBJ, for getting us into an Asian war. And it was not only wars that caused deep divisions: women’s right to vote; civil rights; abortion; school segregation; gay rights; tax structures and so on have caused very passionate divisions in our nation. So our divisions today are one of many in our history over the last 250 years. No doubt we are divided over a myriad of items: candidates, sports teams, justice issues, taxes, immigration, people’s rights, the list is endless. The difference today, I suspect, is compounded by technology: cable television, emails, texts, social media, and so on that give all of us instant information (whether that information is accurate or not).

Today’s question over these is- sues/items is simple: can our country survive? It’s time, in my opinion, for every one of us, Presidents, former Presidents, congressional leaders and members, governors, judges, law officers, protesters, anyone and everyone to recognize the United States Constitution is and was a COMPROMISE. Many Americans cloak their views under the cover of the Con- stitution, apparently unaware the very document they so righteously cite, was created as a result of a compromise. The right is not always right; the left is not always right; the center is not always right. And while compromise may not always be right either, can’t we try it a lot more today than any of us are?

James A. Gondles Jr., CAE ACA Executive Director

6 — July/August 2021 Corrections Today